We present results from a study in which endocardial and epicardial activation sequences, both for ventricular stimulated and for atrioventricular-conducted activation, were reconstructed from (pseudo) body surface potentials. The study consists of 2 parts. In part I, transmural activation mapping was © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc. Original Article
Circ Arrhythm ElectrophysiolBackground-Noninvasive imaging of cardiac activation before ablation of the arrhythmogenic substrate can reduce electrophysiological procedure duration and help choosing between an endocardial or epicardial approach. A noninvasive imaging technique was evaluated that estimates both endocardial and epicardial activation from body surface potential maps. We performed a study in isolated and in situ pig hearts, estimating activation from body surface potential maps during sinus rhythm and localizing endocardial and epicardial stimulation sites. Methods and Results-From 3 Langendorff-perfused pig hearts, 180 intramural unipolar electrograms were recorded during sinus rhythm and ectopic activation, together with pseudo-body surface potential map ECGs in 2 of them. From 4 other anesthetized pigs, 64-lead body surface potential maps were recorded during sinus rhythm and ventricular stimulation from 27 endocardial and epicardial sites. The ventricular activation pattern was computed from the recorded QRS complexes. For both Langendorff-perfused hearts, the calculated epicardial and endocardial activation patterns showed good qualitative correspondence to the patterns obtained with needle electrodes. Absolute timing difference for sinus rhythm was 10±5 and 11±8 ms respectively, and for ectopic activation 6±5 and 7±6 ms, respectively. Calculated activation for the in situ hearts in sinus rhythm was similar to patterns recorded in Langendorff-perfused hearts. During stimulation, the distance between the stimulation site and calculated site of earliest activation was 18 (15-27) mm, and 23 of 27 stimulation sites were correctly mapped to either endocardium or epicardium. performed in Langendorff-perfused, isolated pig hearts, while recording pseudo body surface maps (BSMs) from the boundary of a fluid-filled container with integrated electrodes in which the heart was suspended. In part II, BSMs and catheter electrograms were recorded simultaneously in intact pigs. The data from part I were used to adapt our inverse method to porcine electrophysiology and to evaluate it using a simple, homogeneous volume conductor (ie, the fluid-filled container), with transmural activation mapping as a reference. However, BSMs are measured on the surface of the torso, which is irregularly shaped, and contains organs with low conductivity (eg, lungs) and blood with high conductivity. This will affect the current distribution within the thorax and, thereby, the potentials generated at the body surface. Therefore, experiments in intact adult pigs were used to show the ability of our noninvasive mapping technique to reliably determine ventricular activation and dis...